KINGSTON — Former Kingston Mayor James Sottile and a decorated Kingston police veteran teamed up to help evacuate residents from a three-alarm house fire in Kingston on Sunday morning.

The hero cop, Mark Wikane, is a 30-year police veteran, who received minor burns during the rescue.

The blaze at 12 Linderman Avenue left 10 people homeless, including six children.

It started in the rear bedroom of the second-floor apartment and was caused by careless smoking, said fire officials.

Sottile, who lives a number of blocks away from the blaze, was seen running into the ground-floor apartment, along with Officer Wikane.

According to city officials. the duo went to make sure that tenant Nick Watzka and his fiancee, Suzanne Kain, got out safely, along with their five kids and two dogs.

Kain and the kids, who range in age from 1 to 16, took shelter in the family minivan.

The family, which is being assisted by the Red Cross, may not have recognized the former mayor who came to their rescue.

"I've got my five kids and pets in the car, and I'm upset because I've lost everything that I've worked for," said Watzka.

Investigators are still trying to determine if anyone was in the upstairs apartment when the fire began. The tenant, Beverly Watson, returned from her job as a resident specialist with the elderly and disabled, only to find her apartment burning and all of her belongings destroyed.

"I will find some place to spend the night," she said with resolve. "I've got a lot of family around here."

Relatives came and whisked her away to a vehicle, along with her 19-year-old daughter and 1-year-old granddaughter who shared the apartment with her.

According to Kingston Fire Chief John Reinhardt, the call came in at 11:46 a.m. and was brought under control after more than an hour.

He said that gusting winds fanned the flames and made it more difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze.

"Two firefighters were about to go in (the building), but then the wind picked up and the increased heat, fire and smoke drove them right back out," he said.

The intense fire burned away the southwest corner of the two-family house so that daylight shined through it.

Wikane was burned after he and Sottile got the family to safety.

According to colleagues, hot tar came off of the roofing shingles and struck Wikane, burning his neck and right hand.